Employment Lawyers Can Answer Your Employment Law Questions

Paid Time Off Questions

Paid time off- or what is also called PTO, is a feature offered by some employers to their employees as a resource for time away from work with pay. There are many benefits from having paid time off programs, but there can be issues as well. When an employee takes advantage of PTO or when an employer refuses to pay PTO to an employee, questions may arise and you may need answers fast. To learn more about paid time off policies and PTO laws, many people ask Employment Lawyers. The Experts answer a wide range of questions regarding paid time off laws. Below are five of the top questions answered by the Experts.

Can employers threaten not to pay for PTO days that a salaried exempt employee has available?

An employer can threaten not to pay for PTO days by placing some restrictions on the use of PTO. The employer is within its right to take away pay for a missed day of work, even if there is no PTO in place. Even if you are salaried exempt. Salaried exempt means that an employee can be paid for less than a full day’s work when the employee works less than a full day. If you don’t work an entire day, you don’t get paid for that day, and this is a federal law. However, if your employer has a PTO policy in place, there is no law that dictates that the employer has to take pay from the PTO. Basically, it is up to the employer as to how paid time off is handled. The employer isn’t required to offer paid time off to employees and can manipulate the policy like other fringe benefits such as vacation, sick leave and holiday pay.

Can an employer take away employee paid time off that was built up from the previous year, and make the employees take paid time off when he leaves the office?

An employer cannot take away paid time off that was earned from a previous year from employees who still work for the employer. In order to protect your interests, you and your co-workers should file a group complaint. Contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor Offices in your area and file the complaint and have the case opened. Depending on the details of the claim, one or both departments will open the case. If you and your co-workers win the case, you may be entitled to your back paid time off and other compensation. If the employer loses the case, they could be fined and cited.

Due to a clerical error, time was not documented and an employee wasn’t allowed to accrue PTO. Does the actual paid time off time already taken matter or is it the time when it was recorded that matters?

There are no laws that govern sick pay, vacation or paid time off (PTO), this is left up to the employer and the company policies. Usually, it is the time that is taken for pto, is the accurate measure of PTO. Because many company computers are not updated frequently, many companies use computer systems with a back up recording system. If you show Human Recourses the documentation that you have on when the PTO was taken, they will be able to correct the system to avoid future mistakes.

If a part-time employee quits a job, and the final paystub said the employee had 30 hours of PTO available, but was not paid, is this legal?

You would need to see what the policy/handbook says about PTO time. If the policy book says that PTO is only available to the full time employees, then there must be a clerical error on the paystub. However, if the policy book doesn’t state that pto time is for full time employees only, then you could file a wage complaint with the Department of Labor in your state.

What would be the best way to apply a PTO increase rate for employees?

The best way to apply a new PTO policy for PTO increase would be to use a leave increase cap. By applying the leave cap, the employee will reach a certain amount of increased leave (for example, let’s say 3 weeks total), the employee is not allowed to accumulate any more time. The employee will stay at three weeks of leave until they use some of the leave. After the employee has used some of the leave, they can start building pto time again at the rate in which the employer has set.

Paid time off programs usually offer employees added opportunities to receive pay while away from their job. Generally, the employee can add pto to their existing vacation time to extend the time off without losing pay. Not all situations are alike and the employer has full authority over how pto policies are mandated. Because of this, many employees look for answers about pto laws and paid time off policies. When you have tough legal questions, you can ask the Employment Law Experts. The Experts handle a wide range of questions related to paid time off and pto laws and can answer any of your questions in an efficient and knowledgeable manner.

In The News

How JustAnswer Works:

Ask an Employment Lawyer

Get a Professional Answer. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

2 Employment Lawyers are Online Now

Type Your Employment Law Question Here...

characters left:

DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.

The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.